* Ever Banega *
To replace Aaron Ramsey
"The report also claims that Banega’s agent is currently in London where talks could be taking place.
The 30-year-old has a €20 million (£18m) release clause in his contract with Sevilla, which could make Arsenal’s negotiations smoother."
* Keylor Navas *
to replace Petr Cech
Supposedly available for €20 million too. Is arguably better than Leno.
Get them done Unai.
Then sell Iwobi for €20 million and replace with a proven winger.
2 Potential Signings
posted on 28/12/18
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 2 hours, 2 minutes ago
Why are people keep suggesting 30+ years old players (Cahill, Banega, etc...)?
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They are the players linked with us.
There are also younger players, such as the Valladolid CB and Pavon, linked.
We have a squad of 28+ years old players and under 24s. The thinking, I guess, is to develop the u24s into a team and having the older players to help the development. In a couple of years the squad becomes mainly 24-28 year olds.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree that this is what we should be doing, but we have an ageing squad and the gap between the older-younger players is too big IMO.
Koscielny - 33
Lichtsteiner - 34
Monreal - 32
Cech - 36
Sokratis - 30
Mkhitaryan - 29 (30 soon)
Aubameyang - 29
Ozil - 30
Ramsey, Lacazette, Xhaka, Leno, Kolasinac and Elneny are in the 26-28 bracket. But some of these will be leaving in the Summer/in Jan.
Iwobi, Bellerin and Holding are 22/23.
Then there's Guendouzi, Smith-Rowe and Mavrapanos in the 18 - 21 bracket.
We do need to be targeting more players in their early/mid 20s.
posted on 28/12/18
Don't mind Keylor Navas coming to replace Cech, but not too sure about Banega. Good player, but he'll add to an already ageing squad. Seems like a short-term fix for a longer-term problem.
posted on 28/12/18
comment by Samir (U2630)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 2 hours, 2 minutes ago
Why are people keep suggesting 30+ years old players (Cahill, Banega, etc...)?
-----
They are the players linked with us.
There are also younger players, such as the Valladolid CB and Pavon, linked.
We have a squad of 28+ years old players and under 24s. The thinking, I guess, is to develop the u24s into a team and having the older players to help the development. In a couple of years the squad becomes mainly 24-28 year olds.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree that this is what we should be doing, but we have an ageing squad and the gap between the older-younger players is too big IMO.
Koscielny - 33
Lichtsteiner - 34
Monreal - 32
Cech - 36
Sokratis - 30
Mkhitaryan - 29 (30 soon)
Aubameyang - 29
Ozil - 30
Ramsey, Lacazette, Xhaka, Leno, Kolasinac and Elneny are in the 26-28 bracket. But some of these will be leaving in the Summer/in Jan.
Iwobi, Bellerin and Holding are 22/23.
Then there's Guendouzi, Smith-Rowe and Mavrapanos in the 18 - 21 bracket.
We do need to be targeting more players in their early/mid 20s.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
posted on 28/12/18
But, as I said, we are targeting players in that age range... according to the same rumour mill linking us to Banega and Navas anyway.
posted on 28/12/18
I do feel we have to be wary of rumours of players around 30. I think agents are linking players around that age to us because last summer that was our market. I think we bought experience last summer because Emry, Raul and Sven hadn't fully assessed our squad needs. So Raul bought in players he already knew. Now they have all had time, so hopefully should target players who we can build a Champions League calibre squad around rather panic fixes.
Saying that, I wouldn't mind a stop gap Centre Back like Cahill but I hope the rumour with legs are for the likes of Pavon and Pepe.
Welbeck, Lich, Cech, Monreal, Ramsey are all out of contract and gone. So those positions won't be duplicated if we bought in starters in those positions.
posted on 28/12/18
I think agents are linking players around that age to us because last summer that was our market.
===========
I don't think that really rings true, J99. Torreira and Guendouzi certainly don't fit into that profile.
Leadership was identified as a weakness, hence the signings of dominant types like Sokratis and Lichtsteiner.
A short term fix is not a panic fix. It helps to give a new manager time to develop his squad without the burden of trying to get multiple long term solutions in at the same time. It also meets budget requirements.
posted on 28/12/18
Yes I agree Torreira and Guendouzi weren't short term fixes however I don't believe they were for immediate impact either. I believe they were upgrades. And essentially thats why I think emery was slower integrating Torreira into the team. If you look at our squad under Wenger I don't think anyone would have suggested we had an immediate need for a central midfield player. We had Xhaka, Elneney, Ramsey, Wilshere as starters and Santi coming back from injury.
I believe short term fixes are panic buys because they are not planned. That was a major fault with Wenger because he was always reacting rather than planning in the last 5 years. Which is why we were always the proverbial 'two players from winning the league'. For example I felt last summer that Lich had little chance in succeeding. He was 34 and I would think its common sense that it would be almost impossible for a player being released to adjust to a new league at 34 let alone one as physical as the premier. Which is why I suggested at the time there has to be more to it.
posted on 28/12/18
* I am not obviously referring to emergencies such as injuries where there is no choice.
posted on 28/12/18
Torreira was certainly needed and certainly for immediate impact. He was blooded slowly simply because of the world cup and a lack of pre-season.
"I don't think anyone would have suggested we had an immediate need for a central midfield player" - I think most would say there has been that need since Gilberto left.
There was no panic about signing Lichtsteiner or Sokratis. Lichtsteiner was signed as a back up to Bellerin, but more importantly as a strong character and leader who was available on a free. A no-brainer signing really, and one done very early.
Sokratis was signed as a top defender who was an improvement on what we had as well as a replacement for long term injured Koscielny as a leader.
And, of course, both fitted into our budget.
posted on 28/12/18
I don't think anyone would have suggested we had an immediate need for a central midfield player" - I think most would say there has been that need since Gilberto left
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Fans. Yes. Maybe a few pundits. But keep in mind who was in charge. We did not have a manager. We had director of football who was just getting his feet under the table and a CEO who was on his way out after appointing a new manager.
I seriously doubt there was any long term thought into last summer. For example Who decided that Wilshere was surplus to requirements? Was it Emery?
Which was my point about signing experience and filling immediate needs until Raul, Sven and Emery could properly assess the squad. I believe both Torreira and Gwen were too good an opportunity to miss and may have been a long term target for Sven. It worked out better than anyone could have thought and that has definitely increased my confidence in Raul and Sven for the future!